[Matt]

I think that as time goes on, you’ll adapt and find it much easier than you do now.
On my first bike the shifter was bent inward and you had to angle your foot a fair amount to hit it properly. After an hour on the bike I no longer noticed. Humans are pretty good at adapting to things.

That said, have you tried sitting further back on your seat? If you have a smooth one piece seat, you can sit a few inches further back and still hug the tank with your legs. I have heard of tall guys sitting on the pillon seat and still reaching all the controls comfortably… I’m not sure I’d recommend that (it changes the weight balance of the bike, raising the centre of gravity, and lessening the load on the front wheel).
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Yup, Andrew’s correct (at least about the saying and my home-and-native-land).

If you’ve got a pick-up, I’m not really sure there is much value in renting a u-haul. The onyl real advantage of the an is the included ramp.

If you are taking the bike to a mechanic, ask if you can borrow one of his ramps for the trip, also ask him for any tips/pointers. Certainly when you get the bike there he’ll help you unload it.

The local independant shop we frequent for my parent’s older bikes is run by a really knowledgable guy. I don’t know if he’d lend ramps out, but watching him load a bike onto a truck is like watching a ballet. One two three seemless moves and the bike is up and tied down, and you’d never have known that a 160 pound guy just moved a 400 pound bike. I’ve seen bigger guys struggle more with bicycles.

One last note, be careful with a bike that hasn’t been ridden in two years. You’re taking it to a mechanic before buying it, which is an absolute must that most people don’t do. But there is a lot of rubber that can dry out in that time. If the bike wasntt stored right, the carbs can be pretty messy. Basically, getting it road ready *can* be (but not always is) a lot of work. Just make sure that what it takes to make the bike road worthy doesn’t end up making the bike cost more than you planned to pay (sounds like common sense, but sometimes the reminders help).
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

I’ve transported a couple of bikes in the back fo my Dad’s Frontier. You’ll probably need to drop the gate. Three tie downs and three guys are all you need.

A 2×6 works for a ramp in a pinch. Failing that, ramps are available (around here anyways) for $50-$75. That said, three guys can lift a 400 pound (dry) bike without any ramp (done it).
If it has old-school dual mufflers (“bazooka mufflers” like the older Ninja 250), two guys lift the handlebars onto the bed, and a third guy in the bed holds them steady. The other two then lift the bike from where the mufflers attach to the bike (seriously, just lift them by the mufflers, they were built for it).
not sure how you’d lift a newer single sided muffler bike – ask a the service guys at a dealership, they’ll be pretty experienced with it.

When you tie it down,place the front wheel against the front wall, hook both tie downs to the top of the fork (right under or on where the handlebars attach) and crank those ties down. You want the front fork as compressed as possible. Once that is done, Bob’s your uncle, it isn’t going anywhere. I then put a strap through the back wheel for at extra bit of safety.

if at all possible back the truck towards a hill so the bike ramp, or distance lifted is as close to level as possible.
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Awesome advice Fotobit, thanks.

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Man that is a pretty bike.
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

If I was ever to get a high end sport bike, the GSXR750 would probably be it. Awesome mix of power handling etc… but man… where will you ever get open it up? That’s my issue with them. At least you can wring your 500’s neck every once in awhile on the street… can’t do that with a bike that tops out at 165+ mph

Bikes like that lead to “track day” addictions – addictions which make heroine look like a social drink

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Icon Alliance SSR if it fits your head is a nice cheap helmet. NewEnough.com has them for a very fair price.
The Gmax crusader is also really good for the money if it fits your head.
Key is to make sure hte helmet fits you (visit lots of motorcycle shops trying on every helmet you can).

A salesman putting a 20 year old on a CBR600? Wow… He must be doubly stupid. He isn’t expecting your return business (unless he’s a paramedic by night) AND he might as well be expecting you to forfit your bike loan because your insurance would probably be what the bike costs…

The ninja is a truely great bike.

Be Safe, and have fun!

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Soo jealous… my first bike was an 84 miniceptor… it is a truly awesome bike. alas, mine was turned into a paperweight by a mechanic who didn’t know what he was doing. I’d love to see a picture of your beauty. Enjoy it!
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

ZZR-250 has adjustible levers – they should fit (and may in fact be the same ones as the Ninja 500 uses, since the ZZR-250 is basically a last gen Ninja 250R with a bunch on Ninja 500 suspension bits thrown in).
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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Matt]

I love the star wars reference

Starfox:
0-60 time by itself isn’t the big deal. But it is an indicator of what to expect. The Ninja 250 (5.7seconds is the number I usually see, and I can say with comfort that my ZZR-250 is faster than 7 second 0-60) is simply a lighter, more forgiving design all round, not just in the throttle.

There is a lot more to bike design that engine power profile. Geometery, balance at speed, tip in, flex in the corners (you don’t want that in a race bike, you DO want that in a beginners bike since it will be more forgiving when you hit a bump in a corner), seating position, all sorts of things.

Everything is a trade off: top speed is always traded for acceleration, how fast a bike can go in a corner is traded for how it handles when it gets disrupted in a corner. Every part of bike design is a balance. On a 250, usability and friendliness are the design goals. Performance is secondary for a ninja, comfort for the cruisers, and off road ruggedness for the dual sports.

With the 500s (the GS and the Ninja), usability and performance are on equal footing. These bikes were designed to be the real world sport bikes while their 1980s 600cc cousins were the track stars. The 750s were the real world versions of the litre bike widow-makers of the day. And it is important to think about the usability these bikes were designed around. Road surfaces were not the same as we expect (or rather, bikes are designed around) today. These bikes were expected to see limited gravel road use. Dirt, pot holes, and bad blacktop were the name of the game.

Riding my dad’s 1983 GS450T really rams this home – it was a sport touring bike before the niche existed. And it handles dirt roads AMAZINGLY. Because when it was designed in the late 70s, touring off the major interstates meant spending time on dirt roads. It’ll do 70km/h where my mom’s cruiser will only do 40km/h happily, and my ZZR-250 might be happy at 60, maybe.

Move ahead 20 years, and dirt roads aren’t a design paramater for anything but adventure and DS bikes. Road conditions have improved considerably in most areas, especially areas around large urban centres. Today’s road oriented sport bike (like the SV650F) is designed for smoother roads. All you need to do is look at the riding position to know it won’t be the easiest bike to control on dirt (more upright the better, ideally no weight on the handlebars).
This is an important consideration, because sooner or later you are going to end up on nasty broken asphalt. tar snakes, frost heaves, gravel and sand. And while I’m certain the SV650F could ride through those conditions faster than the Ninja 500, I’d bet money that the Ninja feels more confident and more forgiving when riding through it.

Chevy:
“All the articles and blogs I have read say (98% of the time) that it a good first bike because its not as zippy as the 600cc bikes with inline 4’s.”

I want to introduce you to the concept of “familiarity breeds contempt”. Calling any sport bike “zippy” is a painful understatement. A 250 I’ll call zippy. A 600cc I’ll call mind-bendlingly-fast. Very few amusement park rides offer the acceleration, deceleration and G forces that a modern super sport does. People with many years of experience riding exceedingly fast bikes will start to use terms like zippy for supersports… sort of like how walmart starts talking about inventories of 100 000 as being “a small allotment”.

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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Matt]

It is very important to get a bike you like. Even with gas prices what they are, bikes are not practical decisions. You have to take practical matters into account, but buying a bike is fundamentally about emotion. So make sure the bike evokes a positive emotion in you.

All that said, remember a few things: there is a huge after market out there, you can personalize any bike you buy to be “yours”. Just make sure you start off with something that you at least enjoy.

And lastly, the enjoyment of riding it is what will make you love a bike. Few bikes are ugly from the riding view. Go with what you’ll have the most fun riding. That is what will build the most positive emotion. Unless you are one fo those guys that just likes washing his bike and showing it off, in which case, just buy your harley now

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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Matt]

Pimpin the CF for all you can? Looks good.

I think I’ve watched too many Subarus in rallies, your bike is just screaming for gold wheels
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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Matt]

As a first bike, stay away from the Sportster 1200.

The 1200 is going to be a lot more of a handful when things get dicey than the 883. Spare yourself the initial trouble.
The nice thing about the Sportster is that an upgrade doesn’t mean changing bikes. There are kits (I think even a dealer installed kit) that changes the 883 into a 1200 (different heads, slight boring out of cylinders, 98% of the bike is identical between the two versions).

Also consider the Shadow VLX 600 – it si a very decent bike, nice manners. Suzuki S40, it feels kinda small (good if you are small, not so hot if you are bigger, but certainly larger guys have owned and loved S40s).

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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Matt]

You sure it was sold in Canada? I was under the impression the ’86 RD350 was the last legal two stroke in Canada.

Hawt little bike to be sure!

I personally have a thing for 400cc bikes… and Yammy made a gorgeous FZR-400 (looked a lot like the TZR 250 you posted).
But the CB-1 and Bandit 400 made for some mighty sexy petite nakeds (and seriously, how many people don’t like the words Petite and Naked when used together?)

Magazine article for those who want to read it (thank you wiki), according to this, they imported ONE into Canada to gauge interest, but the public didn’t bite (too expensive)
http://www.eindiancompanies.com/rdpages/tz2501.htm

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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Matt]

Good to see I’m not hte only one with double (or triple?) posting issues.

I don’t think Hyosung makes any Suzuki parts anymore. I’m not certain they ever did. I’ve heard conflicting reports on this, though in all cases they said Hyosung made stuff for the Asian market only (so no Hyosung/Suzuki stuff would end up over here). Their relationship has more been one of combined R&D.

I think the “getting parts for hyosungs” is a bit overblown. A lot of that has to do with the distributor and dealerships. My local Hyosung dealership seems pretty on the ball, and no one has ever complained about them not getting a part in right away.

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The problem with the internet: Everyone gets the same font size.

[Author]

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